Cultural Appropriation is a Small Idea

The modern obsession with cultural appropriation is a small idea born from a larger, more cynical reality. It is a meme generated by political agendas to sow division, operating on the exact same fractured logic as the racial meme. This is simply the ancient adage of divide and conquer playing out in the modern arena.

In truth, we are all deeply connected and related, whether you know it intuitively or empirically. Science has traced our genetic roots back to a common ancestor in Africa—the genetic “Adam.” We, the Bwiti, the Bantu, and every tribe across the globe are family.

As the psychedelic bard Terrence McKenna famously noted, “We are led by the least amongst us.”

Culture often binds us to this kind of small-minded thinking. My partner and Awake co-founder, Jack Cross, rightly jokes that “Culture is something that grows in a petri dish.” On the other hand, culture is also an adaptation to geography, lived experience, necessity, and human creativity. It rises out of our unique contexts, making it as varied as the Earth itself. As humans, we naturally make art and beauty out of life and all its strife.

When it comes to the concept of cultural appropriation, consider these points:

You wouldn’t have mustard on your hot dog if Spanish conquistadors hadn’t brought it to the Americas, yet today it is an American staple.

If rigid cultural appropriation were a legitimate rule, you would have to return every cup of tea to India or pay them royalties for every bag purchased.

Everyone in Latin America would have to stop speaking Spanish, and nations worldwide would have to abandon English, simply because those languages originated elsewhere.

We have been appropriating, exchanging, and integrating ideas for millennia. Why should we stop now just because a political agenda decided it is inappropriate? We need to be smarter than that—especially those of us who are mind-manifested.

We are One.

Do not let anyone sidetrack you into believing that finding value in another tribe’s way of life is a form of theft. Let us flip the meme entirely: incorporating Native American motifs into architecture or naming streets after great Chiefs is not theft; it is a profound mark of respect.

Reject the Politics of Division

Ultimately, cultural appropriation is a small idea that fails to grasp the grand scope of human evolution. It is an artificial boundary designed to keep humanity fragmented. True progress does not come from building walls around traditions, but from honoring the global tapestry woven by our shared history. When we adopt a practice, a symbol, or a flavor from another culture, we are not diminishing it; we are acknowledging its universal value. As conscious beings, our task is to reject the politics of division and celebrate our fundamental oneness. By sharing our expressions of art, beauty, and wisdom, we don’t dilute our roots—we grow together from the very same tree.

Transcript

What civilization is is six billion people trying to make themselves happy by standing on each other’s shoulders and kicking each other’s teeth in it’s it’s not a pleasant situation and yet you can stand back and look at this planet and see that we have the money the power the medical understanding the scientific know-how the love and the community to produce a kind of human paradise but we are led by the least among us the least intelligent the least noble the least visionary we are led by the least among us and we do not fight back against the dehumanizing values that are handed down as control icons this is something i mean i don’t really want to get off on this tear because it’s a lecture in itself, but culture is not your friend

1:031 minute, 3 secondsculture is for other people’s convenience and the convenience of various institutions churches companies

1:111 minute, 11 secondstax collection schemes what have you it is not your friend it it insults you it disempowers you it

1:201 minute, 20 secondsuses and abuses you none of us are well treated by culture and and

1:281 minute, 28 secondsyet we glorify you know the creative potential of the individual the rights of the individual we understand the felt presence of experiences what is most

1:371 minute, 37 secondsimportant but the culture is a perversion it fetishizes objects it creates consumer mania it preaches

1:461 minute, 46 secondsendless forms of false happiness endless forms of false understanding in the form of squirrely religions and silly cults

1:561 minute, 56 secondsit invites people to diminish themselves and dehumanize themselves by

2:032 minutes, 3 secondsbehaving like machines meme meme processors of memes passed down from

2:112 minutes, 11 secondsmadison avenue and hollywood and what have you how do we fight that it’s a question

2:192 minutes, 19 secondsworth answering same question as how do we fight

2:282 minutes, 28 secondsi think that by creating art yeah art man was not

2:362 minutes, 36 secondsput on this planet to toil in the mud or the god who put us on this planet to

2:432 minutes, 43 secondstoil in the mud is no god i want to have any part of it’s some kind of gnostic demon it’s some kind of cannibalistic

2:512 minutes, 51 secondsdemo urge that should be thoroughly renounced and rejected

2:582 minutes, 58 secondsby putting the art petal to the metal we really i think maximize our humanness and become much

3:073 minutes, 7 secondsmore necessary and incomprehensible to the machines

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the core argument of “Cultural Appropriation is a Small Idea”?
The essay argues that the rigid concept of cultural appropriation is an artificial boundary driven by modern political agendas to split humanity. Instead, it suggests that adopting practices, symbols, or flavors from other cultures is a historical norm and a profound mark of respect that acknowledges universal human value.
What did Terence McKenna mean by “culture is not your friend”?
As transcribed in the post, Terence McKenna stated that culture is designed for the convenience of institutions rather than the individual. He argued that culture diminishes, disempowers, and invites people to behave like machines or processors of passed-down memes, whereas human uniqueness is maximized through the creation of individual art.
How does the essay connect human genetics to cultural exchange?
The text highlights that science traces all human genetic roots back to a common ancestor in Africa. Because every tribe across the globe—such as the Bwiti and the Bantu—shares this genetic heritage, the exchange and integration of ideas over millennia is viewed as a natural family trait rather than theft.
What are historical examples of cultural integration?
The post highlights three distinct examples: mustard becoming an American staple after being brought by Spanish conquistadors, the global consumption of tea originating from India, and the widespread modern adoption of the Spanish and English languages outside of their original geographic borders.